We broke down 24 breakout forward candidates in girls prep earlier this week. Naturally, it's time to take a look at which defenders could have big years.
Of course, there are many more breakout candidates than just the players mentioned here. These players simply caught my eye over the past year or so.
Again, let's take note of our criteria.
First, I didn’t list any skater who scored over 20 points last season. Second, how do we define a breakout? The way I looked at it: these are players who have stood out on the club circuits and shown well in prep, but their best (or at least most productive) prep hockey may still be in store. For that reason, a college commitment didn’t preclude a player from being mentioned. There are a handful of college commits mentioned in this story whose best prep hockey is still ahead of them.
Here are 22 defenders who could break out in prep this season. A separate story will be done on goalies.
